Sometimes the media plays the wedge game, should there be a whiff of sumpthin' controversial, the medial demolishes the wall with a sledge hammer to explore what is not really said in order to stir the possum, annoyingly... This is why I left the Mick Dodson "controversy" alone — that about Australia Day being on the wrong date... — until now.

I have celebrated Australia Day since the very early 70s, with a bunch of very open minded people — feminists, writers, artists — most long dead now, some even remembered having talked to Henry Lawson and one old fellow had corresponded with George Bernard Shaw after meeting him, as a young journalist.

Being a foreigner, a migrant, I participated the best I could in the very strong liberal (in the sense of open-minded, not Liberal in the sense of the narrow minded Liberal Party) discussion about equal opportunities for all, communism (many of the oldies had been communists in the 1930s, including many women), gay rights and all, including aboriginal rights (then, many people of the Liberal Party tendencies were in favour of the "Tasmanian solution")...

The yearly gathering were kept low key. In those days there were no festivities on the scale of today. No ferry races, no song and dance, just a small flag waving at Government House or such. The sense of history was strong as many writers, there, were also historians whose original research and manuscripts eventually landed at the Mitchell Library, Sydney... Booze of all kinds was the lubricant moderator and no-one got pissed. Of course subjects included the Vietnam War, this Great Brown Land dirt roads, floods and drought — and "Gough" when he was elected.

I was lucky to be invited. I was privileged to be amongst this "intelligentia" as Gerard Henderson calls any "thinkering" from the left. But compared to were I came from — where I witnessed political debates ending with Nazi hoons and the police raiding the place — these Australia Day celebration were very tame and social affairs.

This is why I was pleased to see this letter in the SMH today (29/01/09).

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Australia Day questions began with the media

It is disappointing that the media has decided to focus on only one issue regarding the appointment of Mick Dodson, my father, as Australian of the Year. Changing the date of Australia Day was brought up by the media. The question was asked after the award ceremony, and Mick said he personally did not have a problem with the date, but was mindful of and sensitive to the fact that many indigenous and non-indigenous Australians do. He called for a conversation, not an attack on Australia Day.

Why don't we focus on some of the other work Mick is doing and aims to do over the next 12 months? It is the view of some that the Dodsons focus only on symbolism rather than getting down to business, but I know firsthand of the tireless efforts of Mick and Pat. Their lives have been about making change and ensuring the oldest living cultures on Earth continue to survive. Congratulations, Mick, you have done us proud.

Inala Dodson-Cooper Chelsea (Vic)

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I have some Aboriginal friends who are still angry about Australia Day being on Invasion Day... And I understand fully the controversy surrounding Mick Dodson's opening for discussion. Mick is a very clever man but the media at large is quite moronic in its approach... Nothing new here.

Let's find a way to smooth the corners here, despite Rudd's political diplomatic no...